Nosotros Sports Plus LLC - www.nosotrossportsplus.com

//Categories

//On The News

Retailer sees School District’s Decision as Million Dollar Opportunity

Bridgeport, June 23, 2006 (Connecticut Post Online) - The owners of a Bridgeport uniform shop believe the Hartford Public School District's decision to make school uniforms mandatory could be a million-dollar idea.

Efrain and Ada Ramos own Nosotros Sports Plus, a uniform shop at 563 East Main St. in Bridgeport that recently won the right to provide uniforms for at least two Hartford schools, with 12 others expressing interest. Nosotros did not win a contract, only the right to be one of several retailers to provide uniforms, so the Bridgeport company will have to slug it out with competitors such as Wal-Mart and Target for customers.

But Efrain Ramos said he likes his chances against the giant retailers because his company has experience on its side. Ramos and his wife opened the store in 1999 and are supplying uniforms and logos to parents of students at 12 Bridgeport schools. Uniforms are optional in some Bridgeport schools and Nosotros clothed about 3,000 students in the Park City last year, Ramos said.

But Ramos said Hartford's June 6 decision to make uniforms mandatory in all public elementary and middle schools is a huge opportunity.

"Last year we moved 9,000 units," he said, adding that most parents buy five uniforms to cover each day of the school week. "In Hartford, we could move 100,000."

Ramos plans to open a store in Hartford within the next month or so at which parents will be able to buy the required clothing. The Bridgeport shop will remain open, he said.

The going rate for a uniform is about $15 to $17, and Ramos said his sales could hit $1 million if he gets a lot of orders from Hartford parents.

So far, Ramos said, two schools have sent him their logos to use on uniforms and he has heard from 12 others that also want to use his shop.

Terry D'Italia, a Hartford School District spokesman, said parents will be able to buy uniforms from any retailer. The clothes only have to fall within the confines of the new uniform policy, he said.

"It's more of a dress code," he said.

Under the policy, which starts in September, boys will be limited to blue or gray dress pants or knee-length shorts, solid blue or white shirts and navy or white socks. Girls will wear solid navy or gray dress/jumpers, skirts, skorts (they flow like skirts but are separated like shorts), knee-length shorts and white or light-blue blouses. Middle school students have the same restrictions but get to add burgundy tops and khaki pants to the mix.

Webster Brooks, an operation assistant in the Hartford School District and the designated point man on the school uniform project, said Ramos was well-received at a Wednesday forum at which retailers showed their clothing lines.

"They'll be very competitive," Brooks said.

Nosotros isn't branching out only into Hartford, Ramos said, it's also going international — he recently shipped a bunch of shirts to the Amsterdam Museum of Tulips.

But right now, Nosotros' bread and butter is school uniforms, and Ramos said the growing interest in public school dress codes is not only good for him, but also the students, because it improves safety and creates a better learning environment.

Specifically, Ramos said if a student dressed in a uniform is wandering around during school hours, he is easier to spot when away from school. That could help police make sure children are where they need to be.

It also creates a more level playing field for kids.

“Everyone is wearing the same thing," he said, which eliminates the tendency to worry about "what the guy next door can afford."

Best Launc